Why The Vikings Traded Za'Darius Smith For a Modest Return

Smith is a great player, but the Vikings made an understandable move given the circumstances.

The Vikings traded star pass rusher Za'Darius Smith to the Cleveland Browns on Friday evening, ending his stay in Minnesota after just one season. The return was fairly light, with two fifth-round picks (one in each of the next two drafts) coming back to the Vikings in exchange for Smith, a sixth-round pick next year, and a seventh.

Why did GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah feel comfortable dealing one of the team's best players for so little? There are several reasons.

Smith signed a three-year deal with the Vikings last offseason after an injury-marred final season with the Packers and was one of the best pass rushers in the league during the first half of the 2022 campaign. In the season's first nine games, he racked up 9.5 sacks and a whopping 55 pressures, dominating opposing offensive lines from a variety of alignments. Then his play dropped off in a big way. Over the Vikings' final eight games (including their first-round postseason defeat), Smith recorded just a half-sack and 25 pressures while playing through a couple injuries.

So although Smith's talent is immense, his injury history and age — he turns 31 in September — would've made him a risky long-term piece for the Vikings.

A Smith trade had been a possibility for a while. Dissatisfied with his contract after a strong overall season, he posted a farewell to Minnesota on social media in March. The Vikings had no plans to release Smith because of the dead money that would've been involved, but two months after the tweet, Adofo-Mensah worked out a trade with his former boss Andrew Berry.

By moving Smith, the Vikings freed up a good chunk of cap space — $12.1 million minus a currently undisclosed portion of his salary that they agreed to retain in the trade — and upgraded a couple late-round draft picks. Smith wanted out of Minnesota for contract reasons, so the Vikings obliged and moved on. With that cap space, they can sign their rookie class and have room for future moves. They'll likely gain even more space by trading or releasing running back Dalvin Cook later this offseason.

The Vikings were prepared to withstand a Smith trade. During free agency, they signed OLB Marcus Davenport, a former first-round pick who was a consistent pressure producer during his five years with the Saints. Minnesota also has three-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter, who is one of the game's best pass rushers when healthy. Hunter started slow last year while adjusting to a 3-4 scheme, but he had a much more productive second half than Smith did.

Losing Smith hurts the Vikings' defense, there's no doubt about that. But the Vikings still have two star-caliber edge rushers on their roster, which is one reason Adofo-Mensah was OK with trading a player who no longer wanted to be in Minnesota. The Vikings didn't get a ton back, but Smith's contract and the team's lack of leverage meant they were never going to receive a huge haul. Clearing cap space and getting back what they could made sense.

The Vikings will be fine with Hunter and Davenport as their starting edge rushers in 2023. With that said, neither is under contract beyond this season, so the Smith trade adds more urgency to the possibility of extending Hunter this offseason.

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